Excerpt: 'Heroes Among Us'

Dec. 30, 2008— -- In his new book, ABC News anchor John Quinones challenges readers to recognize the heroic work of ordinary Americans.

Read an excerpt of the book below.

Chapter Three

What Makes a Hero?

We're in the midst of a bad case of hero confusion. Sometimes it seems as if we worship people who haven't done much with their lives besides make themselves famous or rich or both. Entire magazines are devoted to fatuousness. Generally, the only heroes you read about are the ones who make the big plays.

The opposite is also true. There's a tendency these days to label everyone from the person who picks up after his dog to the mail carrier who arrives on time as a hero. The everyday heroes who take big risks get lost in the shuffle. I t happens a lot these days. But these special people deserve more.

There are plenty of ordinary folks doing extraordinary things. I n fact, today heroes are more likely to have committed small acts of kindness and selflessness. In many cases, the larger heroes of the past have failed us in the present.

There's a fascinating book titled The Hero, American Style, by a historian named Marshall Fishwick. I n it, he analyzes the different types of heroes Americans are drawn to. And he makes this insightful observation: "The hero is always a barometer to the national climate of opinion. Every hero mirrors the time and place in which he lives. He must reflect men's innermost hopes and beliefs in a public way."

Today, that reflection is not of amazing leaders and far-thinking businesspeople. There are few billionaires doing great works these days—although I want to give a loud shoutout to Bill Gates and his efforts to improve the lives of millions through disease prevention and improved schooling.But the reflection we see now is of everyday heroes. Having "smaller" heroes—people that you and I can relate to in a true way -- is not a bad thing. It's a good thing. A sign of how well our culture adapts.

We live in a time where huge institutions have lost their center. The government seems out of control. Our wars seem endless. T he corporations we once relied on for stability and a safe avenue into the future now change names and services in a heartbeat. Institutional loyalty seems like a thing from a fairy tale.

While we can still look to the great heroes of our past, such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Florence Nightingale, for inspiration, more and more these days our heroes aren't grand figures. They're our neighbors, our family members, and our friends. Our heroes are the magnanimous strangers who help us. They are the soldiers and police officers who struggle every day to defend us. They're the firefighters who never quit. They're the teachers who wake up every morning and step into the day with the hope that they can change their students' lives. They're the accountants, IT managers, warehouse forklift operators, checkout clerks, ditch diggers, ticket takers, plumbers, and bank tellers who put their lives on the line each day so that another person might live.

"Continuous effort -- not strength or intelligence -- is the key to unlocking our potential."-- Winston Churchill

Every year the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission honors dozens of people who risked their lives trying to save someone else. Often the rescuer and the rescued are total strangers. It's fitting that the Carnegie Foundation gives these awards. The foundation's original benefactor, the Scottish robber baron Andrew Carnegie, established his bona fides as a hero by having libraries built in towns across the English-speaking world back in the late nineteenth century. I n his life, Carnegie gave away about $350 million, much of which is still at work.

Carnegie set up the Hero Fund in 1904 following a huge coal-mine explosion in Pennsylvania that killed 181 people. Two of those killed had gone back into the mine to rescue the others. Their heroism inspired Carnegie to offer a $5 million endowment so the fund could honor heroes and help the families of those who are killed or left disabled because of their heroism. The award includes the Carnegie Medal, grants, scholarships, and other aid as needed. Over more than a hundred years, the fund has given out over nine thousand medals.

Curiously, most of the Carnegie fund heroes have been men. Fewer than 10 percent have been women. I think that's because so many of the Carnegie heroes are people who've had great physical abilities that allowed them to run into burning buildings or dive into raging rivers to rescue another person. But from my experience, women are probably more inclined toward heroism than men.

My first hero, of course, was my mother. And in my life as a reporter, roving the world in some of the most difficult situations imaginable, I've found that women are more likely to put their lives, reputations, and finances on the line to help others. They just don't seem as worried about the possible negative consequences when given the chance to help another person.

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